Tajikistan Strengthening Resilience of the Agriculture Sector Project Additional Financing

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The US$50 million equivalent grant funds made available through the IDA20 Crisis Response Window Early Response Financing (CRW ERF) will support the government’s effort in responding to the food and nutrition security emergency. The proposed AF will primarily focus on addressing the short-term emergency needs but will also finance some medium-term investments to enhance food and nutrition security and build resilience. The grant funds will co-finance project activities planned under the various sub-components of the parent project as well as finance new project activities planned under a new sub-component. As such, the parent project design, component and sub-component structure and objectives will remain largely unchanged with the exception of Component 3 where an additional sub-component is proposed on the planned nutrition activities. The PDO of the parent project will be revised to reflect the nature of activities that are being financed especially as they relate to food insecurity and nutrition needs. The proposed (revised) PDO is to strengthen the foundations for a more resilient agricultural sector and support emergency interventions to address food and nutrition security in Tajikistan. Additional PDO level and IRIs indicators will be added to capture the new dimensions of the PDO and emergency interventions. Targets for parent project PDO indicators will be scaled up, while Intermediate Results Indicators (IRIs) will also be revised to reflect higher values for indicators linked to activities that will receive additional resources and to include new IRIs measuring new activities. The AF will follow the same geographic focus and selection criteria as the parent project. Beneficiaries will be expanded due to the increased resources and outreach, and also to include beneficiaries of the emergency seed and fertilizer distribution and nutrition-enhancing activities.The AF will cover the following additional activities: Component 1: Strengthening seed, seedling, and planting material systems. The objectives and sub-component structure of the component will remain the same. The SRASP AF will finance the following activities aiming to improve the enabling environment, and ensure the availability of improved, locally adapted, market oriented, farmer-preferred, and climate resilient seeds, seedlings, and planting materials for priority crops, in sufficient quantity and quality:Sub-component 1.1: Enabling environment, the the AF will increase the amount of funding allocated to this sub-component (co-financing), and the objective of the sub-component, which is improving the enabling environment of the seed, seedling, and planting materials system will be broadened to include food and nutrition security. The additional resources allocated to the sub-component will help the government to: (i) develop a FSCPP-to be financed from government own funding, (ii) review the existing Food Security Law #1591 (April 2019); and (iii) review the institutional arrangements for food and nutrition security The FSCPP will help in addressing the impacts of acute shocks, and the AF support will include preparing semi-annual reports for food security coordination bodies on risks, resilience, and immediate food security measures that need to be taken; and developing an M&E framework to provide timely and reliable information to facilitate informed decision-making on food security program management, as a part of an M&E system for implementation of the Agriculture Sector Development Program (ASDP) 2022-2030. The Food Security Law does not provide a clear structure for ensuring food security. Its revision is required especially with regard to the roles of the FSC and MOA to ensure coordination and harmonization of the efforts between stakeholders, including the private sector. Moreover, the current version of the Law is centered on self-sufficiency rather than food security. This definition of food security is not in line with the international understanding and the definition employed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The current law does not enable an efficient response for early warning and swift action to address emerging food security risks and prioritize increased resilience.Sub-component 1.2: No changeSub-component 1.3: Multiplication of seeds, seedlings, and planting materials, the SRASP AF will scale up the sub-component scope to include emergency procurement and distribution of improved seeds and fertilizers to farmers and vulnerable groups. The SRASP AF will support (co-finance) the procurement and distribution of seeds, fertilizers and small scale innovative farm machinery to vulnerable dehkan farmers and women, including to simplify women's manual labor; and provision of training for seed multiplication, seedlings and planting material and the use of small innovative equipment to vulnerable farmers. To improve the access to irrigation of dehkan farmers and women who will benefit from seeds, fertilizers, and small-scale innovative farm machinery, the SRASP AF will finance rehabilitation of existing irrigation schemes through installation of energy efficient irrigation pumps and small works for rehabilitation of existing irrigation networks, including replacement of outdated non-performing pump units servicing existing irrigated land areas, as well as minor (emergency-type) rehabilitation of off-farm and on-farm irrigation infrastructure. The SRASP AF design will also look into supporting potential additional measures that may address the acute bottlenecks in food distribution and production systems, including targeting vulnerable households, returning migrants, and women..Sub-component 1.4: No change Component 2: Support investments in agri-logistical centers (ALCs) for horticulture value chains. The objectives and sub-component structure of the component will remain the same. The SRASP AF will allow the component to scale up activities of the parent project by supporting the establishment and operationalization of additional ALCs with the objective of building resilient food systems, promoting agricultural diversification, ensuring better market linkages, and improving competitiveness of horticulture value chains and access to markets.Sub-component 2.1: Support the establishment and operation of ALCs, the SRASP AF will support (co-finance) the establishment and operationalization of two additional ALCs in geographical locations to be identified following the same procedure and operation and management modality as in the parent project. The design feature (small in size) and services (cooling, storage, packing. Logistic facilities etc.) of the ALCs will also be the same as the parent project..Sub-component 2.2: No change Component 3: Strengthen public capacity for crises prevention and management. The objectives of the component and sub-components will remain the same, but there will be a new sub-component that will be included. The proposed SRASP AF-will allow the component to include additional activities that will further strengthen the capacity of the public sector to prevent and manage crises, and the new sub-component will help improve nutritional outcomes. Sub-component 3.1: Real-time monitoring of agricultural production, land use, and agrometeorology, AF will expand (co-finance) the scope of the sub-component which aims to enhance the early warning systems infrastructure, including: (i) developing an early warning system for livestock, including to prepare for hydro-meteorological and temperature extreme events and animal diseases; and strengthen national participation in regional and global early warning systems for hydro-meteorological events;(ii) improving market and agriculture inputs price information systems, including the scaling up of digital technologies and information platforms; Sub-component 3.2: No changeSub-component 3.3: No changeSub-component 3.4: Nutrition improvement (new sub-component) The SRASP AF will provide financial res